Bob Cole Divisional Quarterfinals: Rögle vs. Hamilton

This was probably during the period of "weighted voting." Some cities (like Montreal) had far more accredited members of the press than other cities, and they weighed the votes so every city had equal say. So if Montreal had 20 voters and Chicago just 2, each Chicago writer got 10 times the say of each Montreal writer.

So I don't think there are any mistakes there, just... an interesting way of counting votes.

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Originally Posted by overpass

This. Harmon's votes came from writers from less represented market so each vote received more weight on average.

Well, look at that.... Looks like you do learn something every day. Good to see that vecens is right without me being wrong

It looks like the NHL did, according to their weighted vote method, correctly award Glen Harmon a place on the 2nd All-Star Team. That doesn't, however, change the fact that it was a pretty bad way to count votes. Despite the fact that he was awarded the 2nd team all-star, it appears that he wasn't truly deserving of that honour. I'm sure this is not a matter that vecens and I will agree on, so I'll leave it at that.

-I'm okay with basically calling Harvey and Lidstrom a wash this series. I think if you're planning on playing him more than the 27 minutes I'm already playing Harvey, then that might wear him down, but the difference in their ability is small, with a slight edge to Harvey, but these two will have similar impacts in the series.

Just a quick comment for the ice time of Harvey and Lidstrom.

The reason I said Lidtrom would play more than Harvey was because Harvey plays harder minutes than Lidstrom. In addition to the fact that Harvey just plays a tougher style, he's going head-to-head with guys who are going to punish him and push him back. He'll be going to war with guys like Nels Stewart, Alf Smith, Owen Nolan, and Peter Forseberg. On the other hand, Lidstrom will be going up against smaller and less physical player like Dave Keon, Doug Gilmour, and Rick Middleton.

Lidstrom is just going to have easier minutes, so he'll get less tired. If you're going to play Harvey 27+ minutes, then I suppose I won't play Lidtrom much more, but Harvey is definately going to wear down at that rate.

Yep, we've put both of our opinions out there. Let's just leave it up to the voters to decide which one they like better I guess.

Anyway, a real quick statement on the forwards I would say is that I planning on matching Gilmour against Stewart for sure. I like his bulldog mentality and physicality to match up with Stewart. I expect to get the better of this matchup because Stewart is nothing special in the playoffs, and Gilmour is an animal in the playoffs as we know.

Speaking of playoff forwards, that was one of my significant strategies. I knew I wasn't going to have the strongest scoring ability going in, but I should maximize the potential of my forwards by getting strong playoff performers. Keon, Gilmour, Middleton, and Walker specifically on my top two lines are great playoff performers, and Krutov's also a strong high end performer in top competition, as he is 7th all time in points at the Olympics. My bottom six contains lower end playoff performers (Patrick and Tkachuk come to mind specifically), but I hope that they will be better as they dont have to be nearly as relied upon as they were for their teams in real life.

Anyway, a real quick statement on the forwards I would say is that I planning on matching Gilmour against Stewart for sure. I like his bulldog mentality and physicality to match up with Stewart. I expect to get the better of this matchup because Stewart is nothing special in the playoffs, and Gilmour is an animal in the playoffs as we know.

To be honest, I don't see any advantage there for you. First of all, just because Gilmour won't back down doesn't mean he's going to win. He'll keep coming back, and he'll keep getting slaughtered. Nels Stewart has lot of weaknesses, but he's one of the biggest forwards in the draft, and he likes to hurt people.

Gilmour's speed will help him get in Stewarts way in open ice and slow him down. He's also be able to keep the inside lanes, which prevents battles from even happening. If you just step in and take the puck before he gets it, there is no battle.

The biggest reason that this doesn't really work in your favour is that Stewart isn't really stylistically similar to most centers. The biggest problem he is going to cause is in the slot.... and it's pointless for Gilmour to cover him there. He's already being covered by the defenseman. Also, if Gilmour's in the slot, my team has a 2-on-1 against youre defenseman, which means our whole shift will be in your end. In open ice, Gilmour prevent Stewart from getting the puck much, but Stewart wouldn't get it much anyway.

To be honest, I don't see any advantage there for you. First of all, just because Gilmour won't back down doesn't mean he's going to win. He'll keep coming back, and he'll keep getting slaughtered. Nels Stewart has lot of weaknesses, but he's one of the biggest forwards in the draft, and he likes to hurt people.

Gilmour's speed will help him get in Stewarts way in open ice and slow him down. He's also be able to keep the inside lanes, which prevents battles from even happening. If you just step in and take the puck before he gets it, there is no battle.

The biggest reason that this doesn't really work in your favour is that Stewart isn't really stylistically similar to most centers. The biggest problem he is going to cause is in the slot.... and it's pointless for Gilmour to cover him there. He's already being covered by the defenseman. Also, if Gilmour's in the slot, my team has a 2-on-1 against youre defenseman, which means our whole shift will be in your end. In open ice, Gilmour prevent Stewart from getting the puck much, but Stewart wouldn't get it much anyway.

This is true that Stewart's biggest strength is in the slot. Defensemen will be charged with getting him out of the slot (or mitigating his ability to get there in the first place), and luckily I've got two really strong guys at doing that specifically on each of my top two pairings in Harvey and Heller. Both will have a bear of a matchup there in the zone, but I think they're up to the task.

I shouldn't have said I'm "Matching up" Gilmour on Stewart. I'm planning on using his line against that line is more what I should have said. The hope is that Gilmour can use his speed and be a terror in the transition game, and breaking plays up there in the hope that Smith and Stewart can't set up shop in the corner and in the slot respectively. This line doesn't exactly have an excellent puck carrier (Harris was a good stickhandler so he'll be the guy tasked with doing it, and I think he's adequate here, but against a matchup with Gilmour and Middleton in the neutral zone I think I can take advantage of this), so the hope is that I will own the neutral zone and then if you get past that, that Heller and Harvey can at least mitigate the damage Stewart can do from the slot.

This is true that Stewart's biggest strength is in the slot. Defensemen will be charged with getting him out of the slot (or mitigating his ability to get there in the first place), and luckily I've got two really strong guys at doing that specifically on each of my top two pairings in Harvey and Heller. Both will have a bear of a matchup there in the zone, but I think they're up to the task.

When it's Harvey vs. Stewart, it should be a war in front, and I can see Harvey holding his own there. Harvey really doesn't have the size to go head to head with Stewart, but as arguably the best defenive defenseman ever, I think we should give credit to Harvey being able to pull a few tricks out of his back pocket.

Ott Heller doesn't really stand a chance. He's bigger than average, but not on Stewart's level.

Basically, when Harvey' in the slot, Stewart will have his hands full, but any other time, he'll have a significant advantage. Also, Harvey can't be there all the time - even when he's on the ice, he has more responsibilities than just stand in the slot. Actually, when Harvey is in front, that's a major boost to my forechecking. Smith and Harris get to have fun with Glen Harmon in the carner.

Furthermore, I think the flexibility to shuffle the deck, combined with last change, comes in very handy. Face-off in your end.... Harvey on the bench.... out comes Nels Stewart on Forsberg's wing.

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I shouldn't have said I'm "Matching up" Gilmour on Stewart. I'm planning on using his line against that line is more what I should have said. The hope is that Gilmour can use his speed and be a terror in the transition game, and breaking plays up there in the hope that Smith and Stewart can't set up shop in the corner and in the slot respectively. This line doesn't exactly have an excellent puck carrier (Harris was a good stickhandler so he'll be the guy tasked with doing it, and I think he's adequate here, but against a matchup with Gilmour and Middleton in the neutral zone I think I can take advantage of this), so the hope is that I will own the neutral zone and then if you get past that, that Heller and Harvey can at least mitigate the damage Stewart can do from the slot.

Gilmour has great quickness, but he doesn't really posess that break-away speed.

Agreed that none of Harris, Stewart, or Smith are top-end puck carriers. All 3, however, are capable of doing the job. Both Harris and Smith are fast skaters with good puck kills, and they both have solid playmaking credentials. When Nels Stewart played defense, he was known mostly for his end-to-end rushes, which he was very succesful in executing. More importantly, Rogle has some of the better puck-movers on their back-end. Lidstrom, Murphy, Hatcher, Numminen, and Redden are all going to make good outlet passes, that give my forwards an advantage on the attack.

When it's Harvey vs. Stewart, it should be a war in front, and I can see Harvey holding his own there. Harvey really doesn't have the size to go head to head with Stewart, but as arguably the best defenive defenseman ever, I think we should give credit to Harvey being able to pull a few tricks out of his back pocket.

Yeah, I feel confident as far as Harvey being out there against Stewart.

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Ott Heller doesn't really stand a chance. He's bigger than average, but not on Stewart's level.

Heller was a big guy, only an inch smaller and five pounds less than Stewart whenever their careers overlapped for ten years. I tried to find quotes of them specifcally going up against each other but I was unable to do so. Heller however though as I said was noted as a guy who was good at getting people out of the slot. I clearly feel more confident whenever Harvey is out there, however Heller is better than most at getting people out of there. I think he will be up to the challenge. [/quote]

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Basically, when Harvey' in the slot, Stewart will have his hands full, but any other time, he'll have a significant advantage. Also, Harvey can't be there all the time - even when he's on the ice, he has more responsibilities than just stand in the slot. Actually, when Harvey is in front, that's a major boost to my forechecking. Smith and Harris get to have fun with Glen Harmon in the carner.

Yeah, as I said though our hope is to not let that forecheck and cycle to be established through strong play in the neutral zone. Not going to deny that I am not a fan of the matchup of Harmon down there, and I've thought about dropping Reijo Ruotsalainen from the lineup, moving Gerard up to the top pairing, and playing Heller and Evans together on that second pairing with Harmon and Van Impe on the third. Heller is a strong puck mover along with being good at getting people outside of the slot (as seen by his 7 top 5 finishes in assists), so I don't think I'd have much issue with getting the puck out of the zone with an Evans/Heller pairing. It's something I'm still pondering just like you're pondering the Redden/Portland swap.

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Furthermore, I think the flexibility to shuffle the deck, combined with last change, comes in very handy. Face-off in your end.... Harvey on the bench.... out comes Nels Stewart on Forsberg's wing.

I think you trying to play the coaching game, even having the last change in 4/7 games, is a bad idea with Irvin against Trotz.

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Gilmour has great quickness, but he doesn't really posess that break-away speed.

Agreed that none of Harris, Stewart, or Smith are top-end puck carriers. All 3, however, are capable of doing the job. Both Harris and Smith are fast skaters with good puck kills, and they both have solid playmaking credentials. When Nels Stewart played defense, he was known mostly for his end-to-end rushes, which he was very succesful in executing. More importantly, Rogle has some of the better puck-movers on their back-end. Lidstrom, Murphy, Hatcher, Numminen, and Redden are all going to make good outlet passes, that give my forwards an advantage on the attack.

Yeah I do appreciate your puck moving from the back. That was one strong aspect of your team that I underrated I think upon my initial review of your team. You're still not convincing me that any of Harris/Stewart/Smith are above average puck rushers or carriers, but Smith and Harris certainly aren't bad by any stretch.

I think you trying to play the coaching game, even having the last change in 4/7 games, is a bad idea with Irvin against Trotz.

Adjusting to the other team is tough. Simply manipulating your own line-up is easy.

That's part of the reason that coaches are over-rated in this thing. The GMs here are making most of the decisions that coaches usually make.

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Yeah I do appreciate your puck moving from the back. That was one strong aspect of your team that I underrated I think upon my initial review of your team. You're still not convincing me that any of Harris/Stewart/Smith are above average puck rushers or carriers, but Smith and Harris certainly aren't bad by any stretch.

Adjusting to the other team is tough. Simply manipulating your own line-up is easy.

That's part of the reason that coaches are over-rated in this thing. The GMs here are making most of the decisions that coaches usually make.

All three are capable puck-carriers.

We don't make the in-game adjustments though. How do we know when Trotz knows to put Stewart on the wing and when not to? Yet again, he is a lower end coach here. No one knows when he's going to do these things.

EDIT: More specifically, my point is just that we don't watch these games, we don't know when he's going to do this, we don't know how often, etc. It's hard to envision these circumstances in a "fantasy" like environment where we aren't actually watching the games, or even seeing how they're going through 1, 2, 5, and ultimately sometimes 7 games. We just ultimately get results.

We don't make the in-game adjustments though. How do we know when Trotz knows to put Stewart on the wing and when not to? Yet again, he is a lower end coach here. No one knows when he's going to do these things.

First of all, it's not really an in-game adjustment. He' just doing what we planned to do when we planned to do it. That's the easy part of coaching.

First of all, it's not really an in-game adjustment. He' just doing what we planned to do when we planned to do it. That's the easy part of coaching.

The tough part is adjusting to what the other team does.

But the problem with that line of thinking is that we're basically telling each other how we're going to play. Your goal is seemingly to forecheck and start a cycle with that second line, so my goal is to bog you down in the neutral zone as opposed to letting youg et into the offensive zone and set up shop. After that who knows I guess. It's just hard again for me to see in-game adjustments, whenever we're basically giving each other our strategies to attempt to argue our teams' worth. Which, again goes into your thought of coaches being overrated, but if we're drafting them then they really shouldn't be useless. I guess its just a Catch-22 in many ways.

But the problem with that line of thinking is that we're basically telling each other how we're going to play. Your goal is seemingly to forecheck and start a cycle with that second line, so my goal is to bog you down in the neutral zone as opposed to letting youg et into the offensive zone and set up shop. After that who knows I guess. It's just hard again for me to see in-game adjustments, whenever we're basically giving each other our strategies to attempt to argue our teams' worth. Which, again goes into your thought of coaches being overrated, but if we're drafting them then they really shouldn't be useless. I guess its just a Catch-22 in many ways.

Bogging down the neutral zone doesn't really prevent the forecheck. If we can't carry it in, we'll dump and forecheck.

Bogging down the neutral zone doesn't really prevent the forecheck. If we can't carry it in, we'll dump and forecheck.

With Harvey back there being one of the best and smartest puck movers ever, the guy who was able to control a game possibly as well as Orr, good luck. I think he is tailor made to defend against a dump and chase.

With Harvey back there being one of the best and smartest puck movers ever, the guy who was able to control a game possibly as well as Orr, good luck. I think he is tailor made to defend against a dump and chase.

Well, the more he goes back to get that puck, the more we get to run him through the end of the rink.

Also, Harvey being matched up against the Stewart line just leaves the Forsberg line more free to do the damage.

Well, the more he goes back to get that puck, the more we get to run him through the end of the rink.

Also, Harvey being matched up against the Stewart line just leaves the Forsberg line more free to do the damage.

Forsberg is the best weapon you have, but his linemates are worse than Stewart's. The two lines are pretty even in my opinion. Harvey being out there against either is okay with me, I'm not wasting him either way.

To be honest, I am probably going to play Harvey more in that matchup.

The reason for this is due to the sheer physical strength and forechecking ability of both top lines of Rogle. Harmon will move up and take first PP duties (weak link there, but you know what it's not going to be like that was a strength of my team anyway. I'd rather be able to play tough defense on the stronger offense of Rogle). Evans is very clearly NOT a top ES guy here, but I think I really like his matchup on the brute force of Dreakmur's 2nd line. Both he and Harvey are strong as oxen, and 17 mins is not too much for a guy like Evans to play overall. Gerard stays on the second pairing that way I always have one of my top two great defensive defensemen out there against his best players, and then Van Impe and Harmon at least make for a great third pairing. I'm not necessarily going to be "Hard" matching against Dreakmur's second line with Harvey-Evans, but they will be out there when it makes sense and is possible. Again, Evans is more of a 5/6 guy in the ATD, but against this specific big, physical second line that is great in the corners and in front of the net, Evans makes the most sense to play with Harvey. Also, the top line of Forsberg-Nolan is also physical as hell, so having Ruotsalainen out there against these guys is dangerous as all hell, and I'll stilll feel confident with Evans out there against those physical guys.

Forsberg is the best weapon you have, but his linemates are worse than Stewart's. The two lines are pretty even in my opinion. Harvey being out there against either is okay with me, I'm not wasting him either way.

Frank Foyston is better than both of Stewart's wingers, but whoever you want to cover is fine.

Frank Foyston is better than both of Stewart's wingers, but whoever you want to cover is fine.

I've made my lineup switch official in the post you just quoted, just wanted to make sure you saw it.

I don't know why I thought SMokey Harris was probably Foyston's equal offensively, but you're right in that one. Don't know why I thoguht that. Either way, I've made my opinion on Nolan well known, so I still fear your second line wingers more on the whole.

By the way, with all of the physicality/toughness on both sides in this series, I'd expect our fair share of fights, even in the playoffs. Smith, Harris, Forsberg, Nolan, Red Sullivan, Leswick, Stewart for you, and then Gilmour, Harvey, Evans, Van Impe and to a lesser extent Krutov, Perry, Tkachuk for me.

By the way, with all of the physicality/toughness on both sides in this series, I'd expect our fair share of fights, even in the playoffs. Smith, Harris, Forsberg, Nolan, Red Sullivan, Leswick, Stewart for you, and then Gilmour, Harvey, Evans, Van Impe and to a lesser extent Krutov, Perry, Tkachuk for me.

I really don't think you're going to want much part of the fighting in this series. You also forgot my heavyweight - Harvey Pulford.

I really don't think you're going to want much part of the fighting in this series. You also forgot my heavyweight - Harvey Pulford.

Lol yes totally forgot about Pulford. I'm not saying that I necessarily want any piece of fighting in this series, I just expect it to happen, which is another reason to get Evans, one of the top heavyweights of his time, into the lineup

more has been mentioned about hamilton's defense of rogle's F's. what defensive matchups does rogle want? who will peca check? will lidstrom play with forsberg in a 2 way role; with peca in a more defensive role?

which team will have better control of the neutral zone?

i like the decision to drop ruotsalainen. i don't think he was a great weapon on PP, and his size and defensive play could be a problem. i don't like the idea of evans on top pair, but he should be more effective on the boards and near the net.

i think kevin hatcher could be a similar problem for rogle. hatcher was a risky player who made quite a few mistakes. sort of an earlier jovanovski or phaneuf.

i think rogle was right to leave kovalchuk off 1st PP. lidstrom and murphy were both very good on points, and forsberg and stewart should be very dangerous. lidstrom has played most of his career on a PP with a great crease monkey (ciccarelli, holmstrom) and stewart's weaknesses are minimized on PP. i think rogle's 1st PP is one of the best in ATD.

but hamilton should have a strong PK, and even though irvin may have encouraged rough play, i think hamilton probably will not take many penalties.

hamilton's F's could be dangerous on PK, especially against kovalchuk.

rogle's GMs may disagree, but rogle seems to me to be more likely to be penalized.

Harvey 5 mins per game, Harmon 4 mins per game, Gerard 3 mins per game, Heller 2 mins per game. Biggest weakness here is that Harmon has to be the triggerman. He finished first in goals once, but is still unimpressive there.

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i think forsberg is rogle's best F. which players will check him?

more has been mentioned about hamilton's defense of rogle's F's. what defensive matchups does rogle want? who will peca check? will lidstrom play with forsberg in a 2 way role; with peca in a more defensive role?

Forsberg is Rogle's best forward, and we'll be checking him a lot of the time with the Doan-Keon-Walker line, and the Gerard-Heller pairing. Gerard is probably a top 20 defensive defenseman of all time, and Heller is tough and strong defensively as well, so I feel fine about this top pairing going against the Forsberg line.

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which team will have better control of the neutral zone?

As stated earlier, one of my goals, especially against the Stewart line is to control the neutral zone and let them dump and chase against the Harvey and Evans pair. With my fast defensive forwards, I think that there is a strong chance I am able to defend the neutral zone well and control it.

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i like the decision to drop ruotsalainen. i don't think he was a great weapon on PP, and his size and defensive play could be a problem. i don't like the idea of evans on top pair, but he should be more effective on the boards and near the net.

i think kevin hatcher could be a similar problem for rogle. hatcher was a risky player who made quite a few mistakes. sort of an earlier jovanovski or phaneuf.

Yeah as I said in the summary thread, I came to be fully disappointed of what I found on Ruotsalainen. He would have only hurt me this series.

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i think rogle was right to leave kovalchuk off 1st PP. lidstrom and murphy were both very good on points, and forsberg and stewart should be very dangerous. lidstrom has played most of his career on a PP with a great crease monkey (ciccarelli, holmstrom) and stewart's weaknesses are minimized on PP. i think rogle's 1st PP is one of the best in ATD.

but hamilton should have a strong PK, and even though irvin may have encouraged rough play, i think hamilton probably will not take many penalties.

hamilton's F's could be dangerous on PK, especially against kovalchuk.

rogle's GMs may disagree, but rogle seems to me to be more likely to be penalized.

Yeah I would agree as far as his PP being strong, and his forwards being penalized more. I think there is a good chance my strong PK is going to be able to stop them. Benedict is a strong goaltender, especially come playoff time, plus I think I have the strongest defensive defensemen in this draft, as well as great PKing forwards. Of course Rogle's PP will get on the board eventually, but I don't expect it to be an advantage in this series due to my strong PK. Also, with Kovalchuk out there on the end of PPs I think there is a chance I can put some cheap goals SH. I think special teams will cancel each other out this series, as my PP isn't that strong either.

more has been mentioned about hamilton's defense of rogle's F's. what defensive matchups does rogle want? who will peca check? will lidstrom play with forsberg in a 2 way role; with peca in a more defensive role?

To be perfectly honest, Hamilton doesn't really have an offensive line that's worth being scared of. The Krutov-Gilmour-Middleton line is probably their best, but it really lacks an offensive punch. The Tkachuk-Roenick-Amonte line can also score, and it looks like they'd be pretty easy to shut down if needed. Those are the two lines that we'l try to get Leswick-Peca-Pierson out against, but we won't be in a panic to make it happen.

The Peca line has 2 other jobs that are worth mentioning. First, that line will be taking a lot of defensive zone face-offs - often with Sullivan in Pierson's place. Peca is an excellent face-off man, so he'll win a lot of them. Add Sullivan into the mix, and that allows Peca to really cheat on his draws, which makes him even more likely to win. With Leswick and Sullivan on the boads, we'll be able to conistently get pucks chipped out of our end, and hopefully, get it deep for a change.

Second, the Peca-Lesweck combination will be used as sort of an energy line.

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which team will have better control of the neutral zone?

Probably pretty close to even. Hamilton has better forwards there, but Rogle has better defensemen there.

Rogle's game plan isn't to mess around in neutral ice anyway. We'll be pounding through as fas as possible. If we can't carry, we'll chip or dump and chase.

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i think kevin hatcher could be a similar problem for rogle. hatcher was a risky player who made quite a few mistakes. sort of an earlier jovanovski or phaneuf.

Yes, Hatcher makes the occasional blunder. He's also a completely dominant force between those mistakes. You can focus on the negatives if you like, but the fact is that, despite those negatives, Hatcher is a pretty beastly player.

He would be Hamilton's #3 defenseman (yes, I think he's better than Heller), so I'm quite happy to have him on my 3rd pairing.

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i think rogle was right to leave kovalchuk off 1st PP. lidstrom and murphy were both very good on points, and forsberg and stewart should be very dangerous. lidstrom has played most of his career on a PP with a great crease monkey (ciccarelli, holmstrom) and stewart's weaknesses are minimized on PP. i think rogle's 1st PP is one of the best in ATD.

Kovalchuk isn't off the 1st PP. He's with Lidstrom for that first half, and sometimes with Murphy on the second half too.

Just like Hatcher, Kovalchuk has his warts, but he's also got things that he does really well. One-timing pucks is one of the things he does really well.... probably among the very best of all time. The guy is an ace on the point. Sure he might turn a puck over.

Kovalchuk might cause a few short-handed goals, but he'll also score 20 PP goals from the blueline. If you'd rather have a guy who scores 5 goals, but gives up none, that's you're call. I'll take the impact player.

Most of Kovalchuk's turn-overs come from him trying to carry the puck through too many people on a rush. They don't often come from him one-timing a puck from the point. Lidstrom is QBing the powerplay, which means the puck won't be on Kovalchuk's stick much, which will limit his turn-overs even more.

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but hamilton should have a strong PK, and even though irvin may have encouraged rough play, i think hamilton probably will not take many penalties.

Hamilton has very strong PK forwards, but average PK defensemen.

Agreed that Rogle will take more penalties, but not by a significant amount. In my opinion, most penalties come from three things: speeed disadvantage, over-aggression, and getting tired.

Rogle is going to get most penalties from being aggressive. Hamilton will get most of their penalties from getting tired.

Forsberg is the best weapon you have, but his linemates are worse than Stewart's. The two lines are pretty even in my opinion. Harvey being out there against either is okay with me, I'm not wasting him either way.

To be honest, I am probably going to play Harvey more in that matchup.

The reason for this is due to the sheer physical strength and forechecking ability of both top lines of Rogle. Harmon will move up and take first PP duties (weak link there, but you know what it's not going to be like that was a strength of my team anyway. I'd rather be able to play tough defense on the stronger offense of Rogle). Evans is very clearly NOT a top ES guy here, but I think I really like his matchup on the brute force of Dreakmur's 2nd line. Both he and Harvey are strong as oxen, and 17 mins is not too much for a guy like Evans to play overall. Gerard stays on the second pairing that way I always have one of my top two great defensive defensemen out there against his best players, and then Van Impe and Harmon at least make for a great third pairing. I'm not necessarily going to be "Hard" matching against Dreakmur's second line with Harvey-Evans, but they will be out there when it makes sense and is possible. Again, Evans is more of a 5/6 guy in the ATD, but against this specific big, physical second line that is great in the corners and in front of the net, Evans makes the most sense to play with Harvey. Also, the top line of Forsberg-Nolan is also physical as hell, so having Ruotsalainen out there against these guys is dangerous as all hell, and I'll stilll feel confident with Evans out there against those physical guys.

Honestly, that is a terrible idea.....

Having a guy like Tex Evans is going to mean that my forechecking game will be even more effective. Slow and unskilled is never the answer to an effective forecehcking team.

Who's corner should we dump it into, Doug Harvey's or Jack Evans'? Obviously, we'll be throwing it to Evans every single. In most cases, my forwards will just win the puck-race, and we'll start our cycle game against a guy too slow to keep up. In the rare case that Evans does win, he's too unskilled to make the play. We'll just pressure him into a bad play, and that's just as good as winning the race.